Teaser Trailer Premiere: MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: GHOST PROTOCOL

Could the Mission Impossible series be the next Fast and Furious?

The trailer for Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol; the 4th installment in the series, has gone up today courtesy of Trailer Addict. This series seems to have had a resurgence after the J.J. Abrams directed Mission Impossible III, which in my mind is the best in the series so far.

This installment is produced by J.J. and co. But directed by none other Brad Bird; director of classics like The Iron Giant and PIxar's The Incredibles. As with the Fast and Furious series I'm hoping Ghost Protocol brings about a fresh new take on the series and takes it to some incredible feats! This will be with all prints of Transformers: Dark of Moon this week/weekend.

Enjoy!

Movie Review: GREEN LANTERN

I'll preface this with saying that I haven't read the plethora of Green Lantern comics out there, but as I continue to educate myself on the character, I can honestly say that the movie does not live up to the writing or the drama in those great books!

Green Lantern stars Ryan Reynolds as test pilot Hal Jordan, who is chosen by the Green Lantern Corps to be the first human to wear a powerful ring and defend the universe. The movie is directed by Martin Campbell who has rebooted the James Bond franchise twice (Goldeneye and Casino Royale) as well as The Mask of Zorro.

The opening of this movie is a brief history of the Green Lantern Corps and the villain Parallax, from there we are witnessed to the escape of Parallax by some alien astronauts and then the selection process begins. The initial trailers to Green Lantern looked quite horrible; the CGI just did not look complete at all and ridiculous. Thankfully for the finished film they darkened up the green and energy coming from the suits which make them look a bit more plausible. That's really only one of the few highlights of the film.

Ryan Reynolds does an okay job at portraying Hal Jordan, but his demeanor and leading man qualities did not convince me that he was having doubts about himself being apart of the Corps. The moments where he was expressing his self doubt to Blake Lively, who only serves as eye candy, are really tough to get through. Its one of those times where someone should be screaming "ACTING!" at you. This self pity became contradictory often because directly after those scenes Hal Jordan would be doing something very heroic and with out fear, that was completely opposite of how he was "apparently" feeling.

Pete Sarsgaard plays Hector Hammond, who after performing an autopsy on Abin Sur, comes into contact with the yellow power of fear. His figure is transformed into a Hunchback of Notre Dame type and is played off in the movie as Jordan's doppleganger. I see what they were trying to do in showing a parallel between these two men and how having this great power thrust upon them affects their lives, but Hammond's story feels more fleshed out than Jordan's. Pity I couldn't get fleshed out journey's of both men.

Mark Strong who plays Sinestro is pitch perfect! I wish he was more of the villain in this movie, I think it would have proved to be a better movie overall! I really disliked Michael Clarke Duncan as the voice of Kilowog, Jordan's fight instructor, because you could tell it was him! I hate that someone actually thought "oh this character looks like it could be voiced by a big black guy", yea let's get him! I mean have some originality with your voice castings please!

The home planet of the Lantern's is called Oa. It's truly something to behold, you can tell most of the time was spent on the design of getting that right and not the story. Shame, again, I couldn't have both.

The training sessions Jordan goes through on Oa after becoming a Lantern are pretty cool. The ring that the Lantern's possess can create anything their mind thinks up through will power; the stronger your will, the stronger your creation. So you have this ring that can create anything and the movie really underuses this ability. The end fight between Jordan and Parallax was entertaining but the power to create things from sheer thought didn't reach its full potential! I'll be honest that the effects for the creations where really good, but still I wasn't wowed.

Despite my negativity, I was honestly childishly entertained. There are some redeeming moments in this movie and of course the very heavy CGI action takes my thought away from the lackluster story. This is due to my low expectations going into the movie. Another movie that I would always compare to Green Lantern, trailers wise, was this summer's THOR. Both movies were trying to break new ground in the superhero genre by meshing two worlds together. THOR I believe is the victor in this case, mostly because in that movie you had sets and things that set the actors apart from their environment; not to mention interact with. Green Lantern suffers from having way too much CGI. I understand Oa is an alien planet and all, but does the rock have to be CGI? I think some practical sets for the planet of Oa could have helped ground the movie a bit more and helped with the power of the Lantern's on Oa and on Earth.

Green Lantern is a very lazy superhero movie. It gives us the cliffnotes version of the heroes journey and thus makes Hal Jordon's character development really cardboard and like I said earlier contradictory. This movie had the potential make break new ground with a superhero who powers are defined from the get go as alien, but the motivation and work was not there to comfortably mesh these two worlds together so that I could care for the characters and marvel at the scope.

If you have kids, take them, you'll enjoy it for what it is, but then forget it soon after. But I suggest a matinee, DO NOT PAY FULL PRICE!

I hope the next Green Lantern movie, if there is one, is a reboot.

Dueces,
StuntmanBob

Movie Review: ATTACK THE BLOCK

"You'd be better off callin' the Ghostbusters love". - Pest from Attack the Block

The opening scene of this movie definitely had the sci-fi geek in me going as it was very reminiscent of the opening of John McTiernan's Predator. This movie is produced by Edgar Wright who directed Shaun of the Dead and Hot Fuzz . Both Shaun and Fuzz set out to make fun of Zombie and the Action movie genre while created a sub-genre of each of them in the process. Attack the Block is directed by Joe Cornish who doesn't necessarily set out with the intentions of making fun of alien invasion movies. However it simplifies it.

I'm reminded of the 1966 Division Street Riots that happened during the end of the first Puerto Rican Day parade here in Chicago. A young boy was injured by the police which led to a three day riot because of the racism and political unrest that was happening with immigrants coming over. The National Guard was even brought in! Seriously research this event in Chicago's history; its an amazing story. Anyway this riot, ultimately led to the culture and pride that comes with walking through Humboldt Park. Now here's the plot to the movie; A group of tough inner-city kids defend their turf from an invasion of savage alien creatures, turning their South London apartment complex into an extraterrestrial warzone.


I think that Attack the Block shows an interesting look at a kind of gentrification and how far these kids and for that matter, us, are willing to go to preserve the neighborhoods we grew and continue to grow up in. Now that I got the heavy thinking off my chest, on to the rest of the review.

We are introduced to our anti-heroes as they are mugging a woman in the street and suddenly a giant flashing light crash lands into a car and we are off and running. These kids are naive, ignorant, foul mouthed, and all around BEBE kids! The movie tries really hard to make sure the audience does not care for them at all. But as the movie progresses its those same attributes that had me laughing and cheering all the way through as these badass kids battle this alien race.

Thank God! this movie doesn't come close to those sometime enjoyable, but mostly horrible B-movies on SyFy Channel. While this movie is definitely a B-movie, its one on par with John Carpenter's work; even down to the somewhat chessy synthesized alien-esque music. The designs of the aliens are simple enough to scare you. Pitch black beings with neon green teeth, they are as big as apes and as fast as a cheetah.

Its interesting that I see this movie literally a week after seeing Super 8 cause the similarities are uncanny. Kids who are having an encounter with an aliens race; all the while discovering their true purpose in life and growing from it. Maybe that description is better suited for Super 8, but WHEN you see this movie, you'll get me. I had a blast watching this movie and I recommend everyone be on the look out for it and support it when it comes out! My only critique is that the kids' London accents are crazily thick, so prepare yourself to do some translating of your own. I suggest watching Guy Ritchie's Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrel's for a taste of the accent's to come! TRUST!

Attack the Block has just received a U.S. release date of July 29th! GO SEE this movie!

Believe! Trust!
StuntmanBob

SPACE JAM ON BLU RAY OCT. 4TH!!!

Remember a time when basketball was good? Remember when everyone liked R. Kelly? Well ladies and gentlemen our prayers have been answered. Get ready to see Michael Jordan, Bill Murray, Daffy, Bugs, and the rest of the Looney Tune gang tear up the MONstars when Space Jam comes to blu ray on Oct. 4th, 2011.!! Very excited!! Are you?

Head on over to AMAZON and pre-order your copy today
-StuntmanBob

"MINT!" - Super 8 Movie Review

For the last couple years, and unfortunately I don't think they are doing this year, but every sunday during the summer, Marcus Cinema's in Orland Park, IL would show 35MM classic movies. Two that I was lucky enough to see on the big screen were Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark. Both times I walked out of the theater thinking "how cool it must have been to have seen those at their initial release."

Last night I got to feel what that was like with J.J. Abrams Super 8.

J.J. Abrams first feature length movie was Mission: Impossible III. In Mission: Impossible III, Ethan Hunt (Tom Cruise) must get a hold of the "Rabbit's Foot" or else his wife will die at the hands of the films villain Owen Davian. Most movies would put great emphasis on what the Rabbit's foot is, where it came from, who created it and what can it do. Not Abrams, he puts at the forefront what is most important; his characters. Since Mission Impossible 1, Ethan Hunt has been this immortal-like spy who can get out of anything, but with M:I-III his family is in peril and he's no longer a spy, but a husband out to do whatever he can to save his wife. The humanizing of larger than life characters is something that is the key to Abrams films thus far. In his second directorial success, Star Trek, its the relationship between Kirk and Spock and with his third film Super 8, it's exploring the universal traits of friendship, loyalty, curiosity, and bravery in a group of young friends who are making a short movie but then get thrown into an adventure that put all those traits to the maximum test.

The cast of this movie succeeds in spades! Kyle Chandler who I'll always remember from the show Early Edition, plays Sheriff Lamb, his son Joe is at the center of the films mysterious goings on. But the supporting cast of Joe's friends take the cake, they all are almost a great modern day but "back then" version of the Goonies! yes I said The Goonies. Most of the comedic relief comes with these characters; its not forced but well deserved and believable. This adds to the authenticity of the films adventure. Also the relationship between father and son is a broken one at the beginning of the movie but is paid off with one of the most unique metaphors of letting go.

Steven Spielberg is a giant part of this success because he serves as Executive Producer on this passion project of Abrams, of which Speilberg is the grandfather of. Watching Super 8 I was reminded of movies like Jurassic Park, Jaws, and E.T. That sense of wonder and awe is so perfectly emulated in this movie that there were moments I was on the edge of my seat and my jaw was wide open. Another credit to the movie is that it gets underway almost immediately. The audience was not subjected to an hour long prologue before the meat of the movie started as so many movies do today.

The only downside I can see to this movie is that with all its hype, people will expect more than what they receive by the time they are walking out of the theater. Did the movie live up to the hype in my eyes? Obviously, yes. But I hope that when you go to see this movie and YOU SHOULD. You should know that while the main story revolves around a mysterious train crash and its contents, the real story is about the people involved and how they overcome such amazing obstacles. If your in the mood for adventure, comedy, horror, action; then this is your movie!

I throughly enjoyed the nostalgic and childlike feeling this movie gave me. I encourage everyone to run out and support this movie this weekend. Bring the whole family and enjoy!

Super 8 is in full release in conventional theaters and IMAX on Friday June 10

Deuces!
StuntmanBob

"Peace Was Never An Option" My X-MEN: FIRST CLASS Movie Review

"Peace was never an option"

The last X-Men movie I saw, if you can call it that, was X-Men Origins: Wolverine; and it was horrible. It sadly set the franchise back a few millennia. For a while there it seemed that all hope was lost and we might never see another good X-Men movie again. Around the same time that X-Men Origins: Wolverine was being prepped there was another origins movie being prepared; Magneto's. The return of Bryan Singer and Matthew Vaughn saw idea of expanding Magneto's solo origin story into an origin story of both Erik Lensherr and Charles Xavier.

There are a few recognizable mutants in this story but I was delighted to see that there were no "name" mutants. No Cyclops, No Storm, No Iceman. While I see the appeal to have these mutants in an X-Men movie, given that they are such staples by this point, it would purely be to sell tickets and make money. First Class, is a story about Magneto and Professor X.

Michael Fassbender (HUNGER, Inglorious Basterds) has the meatiest character arc as Erik Lensherr a.k.a Magneto. His journey from lethal bounty hunter to one of the most powerful mutants of all time is truly a great sight to behold. Also many of his journeys are very reminiscent of James Bond movies, being that the movie is set in the 60's its actually very fitting.

I put my vote in for Michael Fassbender as James Bond when Daniel Craig retires from the role; Make it happen HOLLYWOOD!

James McAvoy (WANTED, Atonementt) brings a breath of fresh air to the younger version of Charles Xavier; most notably using his intelligence and the explanation of the evolution of Mutants as a pick up line to loose women in bars; I like this Xavier. Fassbender and McAvoy's characters are simply defined by the iconic chess games they have together throughout the film. They make their characters more relatable and down to earth in addition to paying homage to the older versions of the characters already established by Sir Ian McKellan and Patrick Stewart.

Another duo story line I was pleased with was the story between Dr. Hank McCoy a.k.a BEAST and Raven Darkholme a.k.a Mystique. Hank McCoy is played by Nicholas Hoult who was most recently in Tom Ford's directorial debut A Single Man. Raven is played with great dimension by Academy Award Nominee Jennifer Lawrence, who was last seen in Winter's Bone and will soon be see in the big screen adaption of The Hunger Games; she plays Katniss. Their relationship is what truly defines the yearn to be accepted that is so universal in the X-Men series. We got a taste of it with Anna Paquin's Rogue in the original series, but it aside from Erik and Charles, its nice to see two younger characters battle with their own acceptance together.

I have to give credit to Kevin Bacon, whose played villain Sebastian Shaw very cool. It could have been very easy to see him "twisting his mustache" in every scene but Bacon held a great balance of villain and "freedom fighter".

Bryan Singer returns to his comic book roots to co-write and produce this origin story. Director Matthew Vaughn finally gets his crack at a Marvel film after X3 and THOR fell through for him. What Vaughn brings to this story that didn't even show up in X-Men Origins: Wolverine is a sense of the time period. For all of you who are reading this, did you know that X-Men Origins: Wolverine takes place in the late 70's? Yea that's right THE 'EFFIN 70'S!!! Sure doesn't feel like it right?

First Class puts the 60's right in your face! The Wardrobe, the music, the score, and the dialogue. The dialogue at times seemed a little corny but then you had to check yourself and say "wait, this is how they talked in the 60's". Matthew Vaughn got to make is Marvel Comics X-Men movie and James Bond movie all in one. Massive credit and thanks to Matthew Vaughn for giving us an actually period piece superhero movie.

X-Men First Class is a really intelligent comic book movie, that aims to show us the TRUE ORIGINS of Mutants during the 1960's during the Kennedy era and also gives some background to the "hidden" reasons that sparked the Cuban Missile Crisis. This I feel is the most mature of all the X-Men movies. X2 is still number one in my book, but X-Men First Class is right underneath it. The James Bond-like globe trotting, the involvement of the CIA, the politics, the betrayal and world being in peril, gives this series the jolt of lighting it needed to become relevant again!

Deuces!
StuntmanBob